The Dodo Archive

Watch A Mama Otter Teach Her Son How To 'Ski'

Moms come in many shapes, sizes and species - but the job of keeping a helpless youngster alive is never easy business.

Take this very dedicated mother river otter, for example, teaching her son some of the basics in a recent clip from National Geographic's Wild Yellowstone. What begins as a spirited lesson on the art of sliding down a snowy mountain soon turns into a life and death struggle for survival when a hungry predator comes lurking across the wintry landscape.

All in a day's work! - though some mothers might tell you, it actually goes on for years (or in some cases decades).